Simkunas v. Tardi, 89-3126
| Decision Date | 03 May 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-3126,89-3126 |
| Citation | 930 F.2d 1287 |
| Parties | Glenn Dale SIMKUNAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael TARDI and Robert Troy, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Patrick A. Tuite, Brent D. Stratton, John L. Hines, Jr., Tuite & Associates, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellant.
William S. Wigoda, Peter A. Nicholson, Elizabeth J. Lubiniecki, Horvath, Lieber & Quilici, Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellees.
Before COFFEY and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges, and FAIRCHILD, Senior Circuit Judge.
Glenn Dale Simkunas brought this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 in which he alleged that his arrest for the 1982 murder and rape of Susan Schaaf was without probable cause in violation of his constitutional rights under the fourth and fourteenth amendments. He also alleged claims of false arrest and malicious prosecution in violation of Illinois law. Named as defendants were the City of Hickory Hills; its police chief, Peter Hurst; and four of its police officers, Michael Tardi, Robert Troy, Al Vodicka and Charles Forsythe. On stipulation of the parties, the district court entered judgment in favor of all defendants save for Officers Tardi and Troy. As to these officers, the district court concluded that they were qualifiedly immune from suit on Simkunas's federal claims and granted their motion for summary judgment. Simkunas v. Tardi, 720 F.Supp. 687, 698 (N.D.Ill.1989). After entering judgment on the federal claims, the district court dismissed the pendent state claims for want of jurisdiction. Id. at 699. Simkunas appeals from the district court's determination of qualified immunity. We affirm.
On December 20, 1982, Susan Schaaf was raped and murdered in her Hickory Hills apartment. That same afternoon, the Hickory Hills Police Department (HHPD) began its investigation of the rape and murder with Police Officers Tardi and Troy in charge of the investigation. On September 5, 1986, almost four years after the investigation began, the HHPD arrested Simkunas for the crime.
Simkunas knew Schaaf because he was the boyfriend of her sister, Karen Spallina. He became a suspect after he visited Schaaf's grave site on the one-year anniversary of her death. His arrest nearly three years later followed the HHPD's final interviews with Mary McHugh, Schaaf's next door neighbor and co-worker, and with Wayne Padgett, a tree trimmer who was working in front of Schaaf's duplex on the day of the murder.
The HHPD charged Simkunas on September 7, 1986, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office filed an indictment several days later, and Simkunas remained in the Cook County jail until bond was set a month later on October 8, 1986. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office dismissed the charges against Simkunas on February 6, 1987.
McHugh discovered Schaaf's body upon her return home from work. On the early afternoon of December 20, 1982, McHugh entered Schaaf's apartment and, after seeing her body, called the fire department and requested an ambulance. The fire department radioed the police who went to the scene and interviewed McHugh shortly thereafter. According to initial reports, McHugh stated that on December 20, 1982, at approximately 11:20 a.m., a white man wearing a blue parka jacket with the hood pulled around his neck came to her back door and asked McHugh if Sue was there. McHugh replied that Sue lived across the hall. She saw the man proceed northbound along the back of the duplex.
The day after the murder the police interviewed Wayne Padgett who stated that on December 20, 1982, at approximately 11:15 a.m., he and his partner were trimming trees in front of Schaaf's duplex when he observed a man with facial hair wearing a blue parka jacket and snorkel hood walk around from the south end of the duplex, knock on Schaaf's door and speak with Schaaf briefly.
On December 20, 1983, the one-year anniversary of the murder, the HHPD conducted a stakeout of Schaaf's grave. The idea for the stakeout came from an FBI profile which suggested that the murderer might visit the grave site. Early that afternoon Simkunas showed up at the cemetery. After observing him for some time, the police officers approached him and asked him a few questions. On the basis of his responses, the officers decided to ask Simkunas to come to the police station for further questioning. Simkunas agreed and arrived somewhere around 5 p.m.
While at the HHPD several officers questioned Simkunas during which time Simkunas gave police a detailed account of how he thought the murder occurred. This account corresponded to information in the possession of the police. According to Simkunas, his relationship with Schaaf's sister, Karen Spallina, brought him close to the investigation, and as a result, he was able to give the police their own version of what happened.
After the interview the officers completed their reports. The reports failed to mention that Simkunas had on a previous occasion discussed the case with the officers as well as Schaaf's sister, and that Simkunas advised the officers that his account of the murder was derived from information they had given him. Neither did it state that Simkunas told police that he went to the cemetery to pay his respects, nor that he knew from Schaaf's sister that the police intended to conduct a stakeout.
After the completion of the interview, the officers conducted a line-up with Simkunas participating. During the line-up Mary McHugh identified Simkunas as someone who "closely resembled" the man she saw on the day of the murder. Shortly thereafter Simkunas was fingerprinted and escorted to the washroom to clean the ink off his hands. In the washroom the officers observed Simkunas thoroughly wash his hands and clean the sink. This behavior struck them as somewhat suspicious in that physical evidence at the crime scene indicated that the offender did the same thing after killing Schaaf.
In early January 1984, the police took blood, saliva and hair samples from Simkunas. While Simkunas's hair samples were inconsistent with those found at the scene, his blood and saliva samples did not eliminate him as a suspect.
On August 13 and 14, 1986, Officers Tardi and Troy met with McHugh at the police station and reinterviewed her as to her observations on the day of the murder. According to the officers, McHugh stated that Simkunas came to Schaaf's apartment on the day of the murder; that she observed a physical struggle between Schaaf and Simkunas through a hallway window; and that she withheld this information from the HHPD because she was afraid. McHugh subsequently denied ever making these statements or identifying Simkunas as the offender during her interviews with the officers.
Several days later Officer Tardi brought McHugh to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to meet with the two assistants handling the case. According to one of these assistants, Tom Davy, McHugh told him that "she saw Glen Simkunas, who she had known from before, in the door, and he asked for Susan, she stayed around for a while ... she heard something from there which made her fearful; she left." When Davy asked McHugh why she had not told the police this before, McHugh responded that "she was fearful of Glen Simkunas."
On August 24, 1986, Officers Tardi and Troy flew to Texas to meet with Padgett who had relocated there. During their meeting the officers told Padgett that they had a suspect and showed him a photograph of the December 20, 1983 lineup of Simkunas and the other five men viewed by McHugh. Padgett initially selected someone other than Simkunas. On a second try Padgett selected Simkunas.
Upon his return to Chicago Officer Tardi completed a police report concerning his interview with Padgett. In the report he made no mention of Padgett's first, false identification. Officer Tardi conveyed the substance of his report to Assistant State's Attorney Davy who requested that Officer Tardi reinvestigate Simkunas's alibi for the morning of the murder.
Simkunas previously told police that on December 20, 1982, he attended an electronics class at a technical school in downtown Chicago from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Simkunas viewed the instructor's attendance sheet for that class and thereafter advised the police that it indicated he and almost all the other students signed out at 1:30 p.m. on the day of the murder. Since the murder took place sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Simkunas claimed that he could not have committed it.
Officers Tardi and Troy checked out Simkunas's alibi with interviews of his instructor and classmates. Through these interviews the officers learned that the instructor did not take attendance in class but used a sign-in sheet instead; that all the students had to sign-in at 8:30 a.m., but were free to leave after the lecture portion of the class, which was approximately two hours long; that following the lecture portion, at around 10:30 a.m., the students took a break and then returned afterwards for lab work; and that many students left class at 10:30 a.m. and completed their lab work at home. The officers learned further that the day after the murder, Simkunas came to class visibly upset and asked his instructor to excuse him from class. Although Simkunas was, in fact, excused from class on the day after the murder, the sign-in sheet for that day reflected that Simkunas was present from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
The officers also conducted an interview of Simkunas's barber in Oak Lawn, Illinois. The barber stated that on December 20, 1982, the day of the murder, Simkunas had an appointment for a haircut at...
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